Guest Post: Megmo

For my last guest post of the weekend moving series, we have Megan!

(Her Twitter name is Megmo if you were confused about the title).

When I asked Megan to do a guest post for me, I was totally expecting something completely crazy and hilarious. On the other hand, she does have a serious side, so this wasn’t too much of a shock.

Honestly, I was expecting a post about weenies (long story).

However, this post totally hit home for me. I have a hard time finding my “exercise happy place.”

Do you?

Before I say anything else I’d just like to give a shout out to all of my running pals out there – Matt, you especially. I have the utmost respect for you all, mostly because running has never been and probably never will be my cup of tea. I used to force myself to run, on an endless search for that “runners high” that is apparently all the rage. Unfortunately I’m not very good at hide and seek when I’m playing seeker and running oblivion is the hider. The few times I managed to complete a run – whether outdoors or in – I would always ask myself at the end a simple question: why? Why am I forcing myself to do something I despise? Well, the obvious answer was because it was good for me, or so I thought. When we think of exercise, we think of the health benefits – but the thing I was missing all along was the actual mental health benefit, instead of the physical. I ran to stay in shape, but little did I know that it was only keeping the physical part of me in shape. That’s only half of the equation. The other half – mental – was suffering and so out of shape. I had to change. I also had to stop picking so many wedgies out of my buttcrack that the treadmill was always to blame for. No wonder I’m single.

I started lifting after being inspired by several websites, bloggers and magazines. I loved it and still do. Every day of lifting is a new challenge for me. Instead of racking up miles, I’d rather rack up weights. It’s a mental and physical thing for me, I’ve found my balance – my fitness happy place, if you will. Lifting has given me incredible confidence in myself and not only appearance-wise, but emotionally, socially and mentally as well. I have no shame in showing off my muscles, just like runners shouldn’t be ashamed to count and share their miles. I’m able to set and meet goals for myself that I really believe in; with each weight I lift I know I’m not only building muscles under my skin, but in my soul as well. As corny as that sounds, it’s true. I’m only about 5ft2, but I could probably lift more than the average woman, I never like to consider myself small, but fun-sized. You may not know it by looking at me, but I can lift, push and pull, grunt, sweat and make really attractive faces in the gym…and outside of the gym as well. I also don’t get as many wedgies as I used to. Thanks partially to Victoria’s Secret and the other part to properly squatting in the gym.

Finding a workout that I enjoy, that I look forward to and that inspires me to keep pushing myself has been a miracle in my life. I’m now a firm believer in exercising the muscles in your brain as well as your body. I hate math, but I can tell you that the equation for health isn’t solved by physical aspects alone.

Today, I challenge you to find your fitness happy place. I challenge you to really question your feelings about exercise and what it’s doing (or not doing!) for you.

Thanks Megmo!

Tagged as: Guest Post